The major long range goal of Project Fate is research and development aimed at discovering the physical and biological determinants of the information underlying the perception of the growing and aging human face. Once discovered, the perceptual information will be mathematized and formally incorporated into a computer graphics system (the FATE Program) aimed at simulating the interaction of cosmetological treatments with the growth and aging of cranio-facial complex. Because of the complexity of this problem, Project FATE participants are drawn from a wide range of disciplines: psychology, orthodontics, oral and maxillary surgery, mechanical engineering, mathematics, art and computer science. The development of the FATE Program will require efforts at three levels of research: theoretical, empirical and clinical. As the subprograms for simulating growth, aging and treatment effects are developed, each will be subjected to thorough empirical validation procedures to ensure the scientific accuracy and clinical usefulness of the displays. To achieve these ends Project FATE comprises three task-forces of experts who will assume responsibility a) for the development of the simulation program and its empirical validation, b) for the research to discover the physical and biological determinants of the perceptual information for aging and growth of the face, and c) for the research to determine the most natural representation of the human face to be graphically displayed for scientific and clinical purposes.